dirty value, 2024

"Dirty Value" is an installation-action developed for the exhibition “The Disagreement: A Theatre of Statements” at the Neuer Kunstverein in Vienna. Once a week, for three hours, Ianês intervenes in the exhibition. They sit on the fluorescent yellow stage and clean the institution's floor around the installation area. Once finished, they return to their spot on the stage and watch the wet floor slowly dry. Ianês, who has also worked part-time as a cleaner since migrating to Austria (from 2021 to 2024), noticed their fellow workers cleaning the streets early in the morning. These workers start early, wearing highly visible protective uniforms that, despite their fluorescent colours, often remain mostly unseen by passers-by. According to Bernardo de Souza, the exhibition's curator, Ianês highlights the social divide between a public worker’s debasement through essential hard labour, often performed by migrants (like Ianês), and the population’s aloofness towards their brutal socioeconomic realities.